The thing about making television programs is, the folks who dont do it always think its easy. After all, Seinfeld was nothing more than an NYC apartment set, some writers, and a few unknown actors. Of course, given the number of failed sitcoms, we know its a bit harder than that.

Which is why Netflixs decision to get into original production is brave, risky, and had a very strong likelihood of a disastrous end. After all, HBO has had its share of hits and misses, and its been at original series production for a very long time.

Then Netflix looks down the road, and sees a potential risk ahead as content owners increase the fees to Netflix, or worse yet, decide to withdraw their content from the Netflix platform. So Netflix CEO Reed Hastings makes the smart decision, and decides to begin to invest in their own original programming. And invest he did. He agreed to fund 26 episodes (two full seasons) of House of Cards for a reported price tag for a staggering $100 million dollars.

Shockingly, it’s about democrats. I watched several of the episodes and they are full of the kind of shenanigans one would expect in D.C. The British series of the same name (also on Netflix) was done years ago and it was quite good. I would call this one okay, but better than network tv.

As far as producing their own content, Ive subscribed to Netflix since day one. It may be challenged by the Intel TV concept of gettingd ONLY the cable channels one wants, without having to support the likes of the ABCNNBCBS boot-licking cesspool.

If Netflix offers a real upscale, R-rated lineup, they will kill the networks again.

The networks can only go so far. Netflix only needs to go a bit further.

Remember, some of the earliest artwork found on the cave walls of remotest pre-history were... Naked women.

9
posted on 02/05/2013 5:32:49 PM PST
by Huebolt
(A country that has tipped will fall. RIP USA)

If Netflix decides to appeal to the 50% of Americans networks hate - they’ll make money hand over fist. It’ll be 500 liberal channels for the Americans who are liberal - and ONE channel for the other 50% of Americans. That’s money in the bank.

I’ve set the personal bar pretty high: Over the past two years, I watched two seasons of Downton Abbey, four seasons of The Tudors, two seasons of Rome, and two seasons of Boardwalk Empire. Incredibly good stories and production quality.

If Netflix decides to appeal to the 50% of Americans networks hate - theyll make money hand over fist. Itll be 500 liberal channels for the Americans who are liberal - and ONE channel for the other 50% of Americans. Thats money in the bank.

You've got that right! It's incredible investors haven't picked up on that yet. The other 50% of Americans will NOT spend money knowingly involving liberals/socialists in films, media or elsewhere. There's a definite market waiting for such investor(s) and conservative viewers are ready to invest their time and money to watch, listen and buy moral, family and content that is free of liberal ideals and agendas. It's overdue!

Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve seen The Sopranos (got bored with it — never seemed to evolve and was pretty flat), Deadwood (GREAT!) and BoB (OUTSTANDING — watched it twice). I’ll check out the others.

I was prepared to comment on the “binge viewing” thing being the (possibly) fatal flaw in the business model — but, the article said what I wanted to say, and more, very well.

I got Netflix (online version) for one month (total cost = $8.00) and binge-viewed my eyes out. Then I cancelled my account, with the intention of renewing several months later, when new material is up. By comparison releasing an episode a week keeps you hooked on (say) HBO. You have to subscribe to HBO for at least three months, to catch a season of a show. Meanwhile, you get hooked on another program, that doesn’t end for a few more weeks. Then another ... etc. I only get HBO for “Game of Thrones” — and that requires a three-month subscription, at over twice the price of NetFlix. IOW, at least 6 times the revenue that Netflix will get from me, if I subscribe for a month to watch “House of Cards” (and whatever else looks good).

Oh, there are so many more things on Netflix. I am currently working through a Scandinavian crime series. Also working through the xfiles and columbo. And for the HBO series, I wait for them to hit amazon video, about 1/3 the cost of hbo sub.

29
posted on 02/05/2013 10:31:32 PM PST
by ican'tbelieveit
(School is prison for children who have commited the crime of being born. (attr: St_Thomas_Aquinas))

There’s nothing sacrosanct about watching one episode per week of a show. It evolved that way because early TV shows aired live — it took a week to write, rehearse, and perform an episode. If they COULD have done more, they would have.

Binge viewing is how lots of people (including me) enjoy TV now. You can hang onto to smaller plot threads. Plus, I don’t have time during the week. I wanna hunker down on Saturday night and watch a half or whole season of “Mad Men.” And yeah, last weekend I powered through the first fives episodes of “House of Cards.” Loved it.

Waiting for weekly episodes is nonsensical and outmoded. There’s no technical reason for it any longer.

I liked Lilyhammer too — it’s quirky (even the spelling of the name is quirky), and Steve Van Zandt is a great character actor.

You probably have more things on your Netflix, than I do on the Canadian Netflix. There are still things I want to see; and I will resubscribe eventually. The point I was trying to make is that Netflix has foregone the possibility of “hooking” me for 4 months to watch “House of Cards”, (or Lilyhammer) by providing me the opportunity for binge viewing. Perhaps this will work out for them, but it does seem that Netflix might be leaving a lot of money on the table.

Same here. Do you know of a good 12-step program? Of course, I’d have to be able to power through all 12 steps in a single sitting. I did my first binge view with 24 on DVD. At the time, I called it the crack cocaine of TV. (I can only assume that Jack Bower went to the bathroom, when I paused the action to go. Otherwise, that remains a mystery.)

I only “binge view” (good) serialized TV shows. To me, it’s like reading a real page-turner of a novel. I don’t keep a couple of dozen books on the side table; so that I can read one for 44 minutes, close it, and open the next one, etc. If the book is a page-turner, I’ll binge-read it. Same for serialized TV — much less likely for episodic TV.

Still, my original point remains: is this a good business model for Netflix? If people subscribe for a month, binge view everything they want, then unsubscribe for several months; will Netflix generate enough revenue? I can see it working, if they get to the point where they have too much material to get through in a one-month binge. For me, they’re not there yet; because they don’t have a large enough selection of titles I want to see. (I only get the Canadian Netflix, which probably has fewer titles than the U.S. version — due to licensing and regulatory issues, I’m given to understand.)

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